Barcelona, Two T H O U S a N D Years
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BARCELONA, TWO THOUSAND YEARS INHABITED BY THE IBERI AND FAMILIAR TO THE CARTHAGINIANS, THE CITY'S FOUNDATION CAN BE TRACED BACK TO JUST BEFORE THE BIRTH OF CHRIST.1992, THEREFORE, COULD ALMOST BE OUR CITY'S TWO THOUSANDTH ANNIVERSARY. o a thousand-year-old city like Colonia Iulia Augusta Faventia Paterna Franks, who made it the capital of the Barcelona, the celebration of the Barcino was a small Roman colonial County of Barcelona. The dynasty of the Olympic Games is an important city, with ramparts, baths, amphitheatre House of Barcelona governed Catalonia event. and a temple dedicated to Augustus, from the time of Count Guifré el Pelós, Inhabited by the Iberi and familiar to the situated on the Mons Taber. It was con- in 878, till the death of Martí I'Huma, Carthaginians -"the Punic Barcino", as verted to Christianity early on, and had in 1410. the classics say-, the city was founded an episcopal see, and the fact that it Throughout this period, Barcelona was by the Romans, who also gave it its was walled and had a bishop led to its subjected to the ups aild downs of histo- name, Barcino. later Barcinona, and being made the capital of the short- ry. Razed to the ground by al-Mansur then Barcelona. Its foundation can be lived kingdom of the Visigoths in 415, and his Moslem armies in 985, it was re- traced back to just before the birth of under King Ataulf and his Qeen, Gala conquered by Count Borrell 11, under Christ; 1992. therefore, could almost be Placidia. Occupied briefly by the whom Catalonia became independent our city's two thousandth anniversary. Moslems, it was reconquered by the from the Frankish kings. It is in fact this year that we are celebrating the the French fought alongside Philip IV's first trade union, was founded there. This thousandth anniversary of this event. Castilians. Barcelona surrendered on European projection can also be seen in The Kings of Aragon had their court llth September 1714, after a heroic the introduction of European sports and there and made long visits to the city. siege. The date is still commemorated to- in their popularity with the inhabitants. Their memory is perpetuated by the Pa- day as the Catalan national holiday, not Barcelona Football Club was founded in lau Reial and its magnificent Sala del to celebrate a defeat, but as a reminder 1899, and just under a century later has Tinell. In 1236, Jaume 1 set up the Con- that the Catalans and the citizens of over 100,000 members and one of the se11 de Cent, Barcelona's maximum gov- Barcelona had a freedom and a set of in- biggest stadiums in Europe. But there ernment institution, and built the first stitutions that were taken from us by were also difficult moments: in 1909, so- medieval walls. Pere el Cerimoniós re- ,force and which we have never for one cial unrest led to the outbreak of violence formed them, and during his reign, work moment renounced. known as the "Tragic Week", which gave was started on the Llotja market building Soon afterwards, the new dynasty, origi- the world an unfavourable impression of and the church of Santa Maria del Mar nally so badly received, found a king who the Catalan capital. But the country grad- was completed. This splendid building is was to make it more popular. In 1778, ually recovered its economy. its culture also known as the Cathedral of the Charles 111 granted free trade with Amer- and its government institutions. In 1914, Shore. Shortly before this, Queen Elisen- ica. and the peace with Turkey was the Barcelona became the seat of the newly da of Montcada had promoted the con- beginning of a period of peace born Mancomclnitat de Catalnnya, whose struction of the monastery of Santa Maria throughout the Mediterranean. Barcelo- president was the great Prat de la Riba. de Pedralbes, now an oasis of peace in na, which had had an important network In 1929, the city held the Exposició In- the midst of the turmoil of the modern of consulates during the Middle Ages and ternacional, which changed the face of city. But not al1 was stone: Joan 1. «the whose shipyards had put everything they Montjuic. One of the most important lover of gentilityn, established the Jocs had into the victory over the Turks at Le- buildings there is the stadium, where top Florals in 1393, a literary award which panto in 1571, now saw her port filled leve1 athletics events and international was revived in 1859 and which has been once more with sails and people. The football matches are held. In 1931. Fran- maintained down to the present day, as a new Llorja, or market building, and the cesc Macia proclaimed the Catalan Re- homage to womankind and poetry in Customs building -now the seat of the public from the Palau de la Generalitat. Catalan. The economic life of the city provincial governor's office, in the old In 1936, the city organized the Popular was not forgotten: in 1401 the Taula de Plaqa del Palau- are signs of this pros- Olympics, but the war that broke out that Canvi was created and the foundations perity. The War against the the French year turned Barcelona into a battle laid for the Hospital de la Santa Creu. was kind to the city. The civil wars that ground. The air raids of 1938 will go The city survived crises. plagues and tore Spain apart during the nineteenth down in history as one of the great crimes wars. In 1493, Ferdinand and Isabella, century affected our city very little, of our age. The city, now much changed, known as the "Catholic King and protected as it was by its impressive tried to recover its personality after 1939. Queen", received Christopher Columbus walls. The civic disturbances and riots The new totalitarian regime tried to erase there on his return from America. In were a greater cause for concern for the the Catalan language and culture. The 1519 their grandson, the Emperor inhabitants. Aithough it was declared city's population grew to more than a mil- Charles 1, celebrated the Chapter of the a placa forta, or stronghold, and was lion inhabitants, many of whom had Order of the Golden Fleece in the Choir put under military rule, its cultural life come from outside Catalonia in search of of Barcelona Cathedral, and set out on seethed. 1847 saw the inauguration of work and a place to live. The XXXV In- the conquest of Tunis from the city's the Gran Teatre del Liceu, one of the ternational Eucharistic Congress. in port. Saint Ignatius of Loyola had fond greatest opera halls in the world. In 1859, 1962, gave a boost to the city, with the memories of the time he spent in Barce- Monturiol tested his submarine "Ictineo" construction of new houses and the cre- lona, where he kept up good friendships. in the waters of the port; a few years ation of new hope. Gradually, the politi- Relations between the citizens of Barce- before, in 1848, the first railway train cal situation returned to normal, and on lona and the Austrian monarchy were not joined Barcelona and Mataró. A brilliant llth September 1977, a peaceful demon- always good. Although courts were still town-planner. Ildefons Cerda, got appro- stration of more than a million people held there following the ancient tradition val for his famous Pla de I'Eixample in marched through the streets of Barcelona of the Catalan kings, the famous revolt 1859, after work had started on the demanding the "Statute of Autonomy". "dels Segadors" (of the Reapers), during demolition of the walls that corseted the On 23rd October of the same year, Presi- the so-called "Bloody Corpus", led to a city. Barcelona grew at a remarkable dent Josep Tarradellas returned from violent confrontation between the citi- rate, and spread over the land between exile. Not long afterwards, the first zens of Barcelona and King Philip IV of the old walls and the hills that border her, democratic municipal elections since Castile in 1840. The country was ruined between the rivers Besos and Llobregat. 1936 were held. The life of the city recov- by a long war, in which the French fought In 1883, Jacint Verdaguer, the great poet ered its old vitality, and on 17th October alongside the Catalans against the Casti- who restored the Catalan language to its 1986. as a result of the effort on the part lians. Before this, Catalonia had already place in world literature, wrote his fa- of al1 the authorities, Barcelona was been broken up in 1659, by the Peace mous poem "Ode to Barcelona". The named as host to the 1992 Olympic Treaty of the Pyrenees. that gave France Exposició Universal, celebrated with Games. This could be the start of a splen- the counties of Rosselló, Vallespir and great ceremony in 1888, marked the tran- did future for al1 the citizens of Barcelo- Cerdanya. Some years later, the new sition from a closed, inward-looking city, na, and for al1 Catalans. for we must not Bourbon dynasty was implanted in to one that set its sights on the rest of forget that this great city, Barcelona. is Catalonia after a bitter struggle in which Europe. That same year, the UGT, the the capital of Catalonia. ¤ .